Oman expected to raise prices in 2013

Omani cement producers will be able to raise prices by 2013 as dumping from the oversupplied UAE market slows and demand improves domestically and abroad, according to analysts, the Muscat Daily reports.

A BankMuscat research report said that the drop in domestic price realisations took a 'halt' in the first quarter this year after six quarters of continuous declines, while the export realisation uptick came as a positive surprise.

The report said, “Realisations have largely stabilised at the current level and we expect a marginal uptick from the first half of 2013. At current costs, there is little room for UAE manufacturers to lower their prices, which provides a strong base for realisations to bottom out in Oman.

“For 2012, we expect Raysut’s domestic realisation to be RO27 per tonne and Oman Cement’s domestic realisation to be RO25.8/t.

“We expect realisations to inch up in 2013.”

Demand for Oman Cement products continues to increase, with total sales reaching 558,000t in the first quarter of 2012, the highest quarterly volume in the last three years.